The Abundance of Akkermansia muciniphila and its Relationship with Sulphated Colonic Mucins in Health and Ulcerative Colitis

Akkermansia muciniphila utilises colonic mucin as its substrate. Abundance is reduced in ulcerative colitis (UC), as is the relative proportion of sulphated mucin in the mucus gel layer (MGL). It is unknown if these phenomena are related, however reduced sulphated mucins could contribute to reduced abundance, owing to a lack of substrate. The aim of this study was to quantify A. muciniphila within the MGL and to relate these findings with markers of inflammation and the relative proportion of sulphomucin present. Colonic biopsies and mucus brushings were obtained from 20 patients with active UC (AC), 14 with quiescent UC (QUC) and 20 healthy controls (HC). A. muciniphila abundance was determined by RT-PCR. High iron diamine alcian-blue staining was performed for histological analysis. Patients with AC had reduced abundance of A. muciniphila compared to HC and QUC. A positive association was found between A. muciniphila abundance and higher percentage of sulphated mucin (ρ 0.546, p = 0.000). Lower abundances of A. muciniphila correlated with higher inflammatory scores (ρ = 0.294 (p = 0.001)). This study confirms an inverse relationship between A. muciniphila and inflammation and a positive association between A. muciniphila abundance and percentage of sulfated mucin in the MGL

Incidence, management and outcomes of the first cfr-mediated linezolid-resistant Staphylococcus epidermidis outbreak in a tertiary referral centre in the Republic of Ireland.

peer-reviewedAim: To report the first Irish outbreak of cfr-mediated linezolid-resistant Staphylococcus epidermidis. Methods: Linezolid-resistant S. epidermidis isolated at University Hospital Limerick from four blood cultures, one wound and four screening swabs (from nine patients) between April and June 2013 were characterized by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE), multilocus sequence typing (MLST) and staphylococcal cassette chromosome (SCCmec) typing. Antibiotic susceptibilities were determined according to the guidelines of the British Society for Antimicrobial Chemotherapy. The outbreak was controlled through prohibiting prescription and use of linezolid, adherence to infection prevention and control practices, enhanced environmental cleaning, isolation of affected patients, and hospital-wide education programmes. Findings: PFGE showed that all nine isolates represented a single clonal strain. MLST showed that they belonged to ST2, and SCCmec typing showed that they encoded a variant of SCCmecIII. All nine isolates were cfr positive, and eight isolates were positive for the G2576T 23S rRNA mutation commonly associated with linezolid resistance. Isolates exhibited multiple antibiotic resistances (i.e. linezolid, gentamicin, methicillin, clindamycin, ciprofloxacin, fusidic acid and rifampicin). The adopted infection prevention intervention was effective, and the outbreak was limited to the affected intensive care unit.PUBLISHEDpeer-reviewe

Some effects of petroleum hydrocarbons on the growth of freshwater phytoplankton

Two algal culture systems were used to investigate the effects on the growth of five phytoplankton species of water soluble fractions of petroleum hydrocarbons. The three test petroleums were a Kuwait crude oil, a South Louisiana crude oil, and a #2 fuel oil which have been designated by the American Petroleum Institute as standard biological test oils. In addition to the oils, naphthalene was tested as a possible simple model compound of petroleum toxicity. The test species were three green algae: Selenastrum capricornaturn, Chlorella pyrenoidosa. and Ankistrodesmus falcatus: and two blue-green algae: Anabaena flos-aquae and Microcystis aeruginosa. No inhibitory effects of the two crude oil water soluble fractions were found on the growth rate of S. capricornaturn or on the cell yield of any of the five species. The #2 fuel oil water soluble fraction was found to inhibit the growth rate of capricornaturn and the cell yield of all of the test species except C. pyrenoidosa. Most of the inhibitory component of the #2 fuel oil water soluble fraction was found to be volatilized within 72 hr with a minor residual inhibitory component present. Naphthalene was found to be toxic to S. capricornatum when continuously saturated by solid phase naphthalene. Naphthalene was found to he rapidly removed from the culture systems by volatilization when the saturated naphthalene solutions were open to the atmosphere; these saturated naphthalene solutions did not inhibit the growth rate or cell yield of canricornaturn

Adipocyte-epithelial interactions and crohn\u27s disease - an emerging drug target

Crohn\u27s disease is hallmarked by mesenteric abnormalities including thickening, shortening and extension ofmesenteric fat over the intestinal surface (“fat wrapping” or “creeping fat”) (Coffey et al., 2016; Peyrin-Biroulet et al., 2007; Sheehan et al., 1992; Crohn et al., 1932). Mesenteric and submucosal mesenchymal abnormalities overlap in histological appearance and both inflammatory fronts meet to generate transmural inflammation (Coffey and O\u27leary, 2016)

Adipocyte-epithelial interactions and crohn's disease - an emerging drug target

Crohn's disease is hallmarked by mesenteric abnormalities including thickening, shortening and extension ofmesenteric fat over the intestinal surface (“fat wrapping” or “creeping fat”) (Coffey et al., 2016; Peyrin-Biroulet et al., 2007; Sheehan et al., 1992; Crohn et al., 1932). Mesenteric and submucosal mesenchymal abnormalities overlap in histological appearance and both inflammatory fronts meet to generate transmural inflammation (Coffey and O'leary, 2016)